


Every Once in a While

by C3P0



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 20:33:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6165894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C3P0/pseuds/C3P0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Poe Dameron fanfic, set some time before the events that occur during the force awakens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I walked briskly, a little concerned, also a bit nervous. It isn't every day that the general calls you into the resistance base. I was starting to think I had done something wrong, maybe I hadn't done my job efficiently. Was she calling me because I wasn't good enough to work at med bay? I shook my head a little, as if that would get rid of all my negative thoughts. I rubbed my sweaty palms on the front of my shirt, I needed to take a deep breath and calm my nerves. 

The base was a little hectic at times, the med bay was much calmer than the main part of the base. It was understandable, though. There was always a wave of amusement that washed over me as I passed the x-wings. They were fascinating, big and compelling. Excitement always turned into apprehension. Every time a ship left our base there was a huge chance that it wouldn't make its way back. I wasn't necessarily close to any of the pilots or droids, but losing anyone that you could consider a peer was definitely discouraging.

The inside of the resistance quarters might just be as hectic as it was outside on the platforms. You had Admirals, Commanders, and of course, The General. I would be lying if I said I wasn't feeling uneasy inside. Thanks to my nerves, I was sure everyone was looking at me. I kept my head up, scanning the large room for General Organa. I spotted her, whispering to Admiral Ackbar. The droid, C-3PO, standing close by, nodding every once in a while. Should I go over and interrupt or shall I stand around and look like a fish out of water. I dawdled over, hoping one of them would notice and address why I was here. General Organa spotted me, smiling softly, the other two scattered away.

"Isla." She nodded her head once as a greeting.

I smiled, not feeling any less restless. "General, Hi." I couldn't get anymore words out. By the looks of it, I was sure the General knew I was nervous. 

"Thank you for coming over, " She had a hand on my upper arm, steering me away from the room, we walked into a small corner, stopping in front of a door, "I wanted to ask a small favor." A favor, oh. Favors weren't bad. I was feeling fidgety for no reason at all. 

"Now, I've got a stubborn pilot on my hands. My best pilot," She sighed a little, " He's been sick for a few days, won't go over to the med bay. I need to know that he's alright, if he's good enough to fly."

I only nodded, listening intently. It wasn't very quiet in the resistance base. 

"Like I said, he's stubborn. He won't go to the med bay so I decided to bring the med bay to him." She had a sly smile on her lips. I wanted to protest, only because I wasn't an actual doctor. The droids were the doctors. I was just a nurse. I didn't know how sick this pilot was, what was I supposed to do if I didn't know what was wrong with him? So much for thinking my nerves had finally calmed. 

"General, I- The droids-"

"I'm not asking you to perform surgery, Isla." She patted my arm, "Our medical droids are busy, you're the closest thing I have to a doctor right now." I nodded, feeling a little foolish for even trying to get out of it. 

"Right," I gave her my best confident smile, "Where is this stubborn pilot?"

"Right in here," She tilted her head in the direction of the door next to us, she pushed it open quickly, making her way inside. I followed in leisurely. 

"Poe. I don't want to hear one word out of you, got it?" She spoke sternly. The general was only slightly shorter than I was. I couldn't see who she was talking to, I stood up straight trying to see over her head. The General turned quickly, surprising me. I took a couple steps back, she walked past me. 

"I'll leave you to it. If it's serious I'd like to know before you whisk him off to the med bay, alright?" I nodded quickly.

"Understood." She was already on the other side of the door, she looked past me sternly. I turned away from the door, looking over at the pilot. He was sitting at a table with a couple other people. Also pilots, all of them staring at me curiously. Should I say something? Before I could argue with myself on what to do, a man stood up.

"I guess you were sent to check me out." He walked closer over to me. He was right, I was here to check and see if he was alright. But I might have also been checking him out. He was taller than me, but not as tall as most guys. He had dark, curly hair, it was a bit messy but it was working for him. 

_Don't stare at him, Isla. Don't make this weird._

"Y-yeah." I cleared my throat. "So, what is it that's-"

"I'm Poe." He stuck his hand out, holding it in front of me, "Poe Dameron." I glanced down at his hand for a second before bringing my gaze back to his face. 

"I'm Isla," My hand reaching up to shake his, "Isla Malek." I could have been imagining things, but it felt as if he held my hand in his for longer than most do when they shake hands. I gently dropped my hand, glancing behind him and at the table. I could still feel eyes on me. 

"Nice name. It's good to meet you." I looked back up at him, his brown eyes gleaming. 

"Likewise." I nodded, "So? The general tells me you haven't been feeling well." I wanted to do this as quickly as possible. Everything about this was uncomfortable for me. 

"I'm fine, "He waved his hand, motioning towards himself, " Got a fever, that's about it." I instinctively reached over to rest the back of my hand against his forehead. He was definitely feeling hot. 

"You are hot." I blurted. He chuckled softly, I dropped my hand. Realizing what I had said, I took a small step back.

"Because of the fever, you know." I added quickly. His chuckling came to a stop, leaving a small smile on his face.

"Of course." Poe replied softly. 

"He's got a cut." Someone grumbled from the table, I peeked past Poe. A girl was looking dead at me, a look of annoyance etched across her young face. Poe caught my attention once more, he let a low sigh. I focused my attention back on the pilot in front of me. He unzipped the top of his orange jumpsuit, revealing his neck. There indeed was a cut, and it was deep.

"It's infected." I stated, I didn't have to look at it long to know that. The skin around the wound was red and it was starting to swell. I took a step closer, reaching over to gently touch the skin around the wound. It was puffy, definitely needed a good cleaning. I reached down to grab his wrist, resting two fingers on the inside of his wrist.

"Your heart beat is a little high. You have to come back with me." I looked up at him, expecting to see a look of annoyance at the fact that he had to come down to the med bay. He was staring at me down at me, he looked intrigued? 

"Whatever you say." 

With that, I let go of his wrist, "Alright, let's go." 

"Have fun." The same girl who mentioned the cut said as we walked towards the door. Poe walked ahead of me, holding the door open for me.

"Oh, I will." He called back as I walked past him. I turned around, ready to tell him that I had to find the general before we left. He was closer than I assumed, I bumped straight into his chest. Like I said, he wasn't much taller, so my face ended up inches away from his. 

"Oh," I stumbled, his hands were on my upper arms, steadying me, "I'm sorry. I didn't know-" I was flustered and it didn't help that he was still holding onto me. He was chuckling once more, he gave my arms a squeeze before letting go.

"Don't worry about it." Before I could say anything else, Poe was walking away, towards the general. He motioned over to me and she nodded, looking a little disappointed. Poe came back looking sheepish. I'm sure she wasn't too happy that he had ignored a wound especially now that it was infected. 

The walk to the med bay was quiet, but it wasn't awkward. Mostly because, there was a few people who would come up and speak to Poe. There were hellos, praises, and even some hugs. I had seen Poe around and I knew that he was one of the best pilots the resistance had, but that as far as it went. 

"You're pretty famous, huh?" I joked. Earning a hearty laugh out of the pilot. 

"I just have a lot of friends." He winked. This time our walk wasn't interrupted by a person, but by a droid. Poe's droid. I personally thought, he was the cutest droid on the base. He was one of a kind.

"Buddy!" Poe exclaimed, I watched his face light up as he looked down at the white and orange droid. "Just a little cut-" The droid was beeped frantically, "I'm fine, my new buddy is gonna fix me." He motioned towards me. Buddy? Me? I felt a flutter in my stomach. What was going on? Why was this stranger having an affect on me? The droid turned his head towards me.

"This is Isla." Poe smiled. The droid beeped and rolled over to me. 

"Hi." I waved. 

"That's bb-8" Poe spoke, smiling so hard that it reached his eyes. 

"Good to meet you, bb-8" I giggled. He beeped happily, and then turned back to Poe, his beeping tone changing. 

"I'll get it fixed. I'll see you in a bit." Poe patted the droid on his head and walked towards me, jerking his head towards the med bay. 

The med bay was quiet, as it always was. It wasn't busy, which was a relief to everyone. The droids were performing surgery on a pilot who's ship had been shot down, luckily his leg was the only body part that needed repairing. I lead Poe to an unoccupied room, telling him to take a seat. 

"Can you unzip your suit, please?" I asked as I washed my hands and dried them off. 

"It is unzipped." He replied, looking a little confused. 

I sighed a little, "More than that. I don't anything to get on your suit, just in case I have to drain it." He complied, unzipping his suit quickly. He shrugged his shoulders, slipping his arms out. All I needed was for him to unzip his coat, I didn't ask to see his muscular arms. I cleared my throat, hoping to clear the silly thoughts in my head. 

_Jesus, get it together, Isla._


	2. 2.

Poe's cut wasn't old, which made him lucky. There was no need to drain it, Poe sat perfectly still as I cleaned his wound, not even wincing when I had to apply antibiotic ointment to his cut. I applied a clean bandage and then went to wash my hands.

"That's it?" He asked from behind me.

I nodded, turning, "Yeah, If it starts to bleeds you need to come back so that I can give you a new bandage." I thought for a second, who was I kidding? He was fine, his wound was fresh enough to the point that I knew a good cleaning was all he needed. There was only a small chance that his wound would bleed again.

"Actually, " I started to change my mind, "I can give you some to take back to your quarters. It's probably best, the general made it seem as if you weren't very fond of the med bay." He was standing now, reaching up to touch the fresh bandage that now adorned his neck. He zipped his suit back up, then finally looked up to meet my eyes. I looked away for a moment, reaching over to grab a good amount of bandages for him to take back. I took a step towards him, reaching my hand out.

He shook his head, "I'd rather come back and have you do it." He grabbed the supplies from my hand anyways. "Maybe I'll just request that you come over and help me, if need be." 

"Commander Dameron." I jumped slightly, not even aware that there was anyone else in the room with us. I turned to see FX-7, one of the medical assistant droids. I felt flustered even if I wasn't doing anything wrong, it felt a bit as if I was caught doing something wrong. 

"Everything okay here, Miss Malek?" 

"Oh," I nodded quickly, "Yes." I walked away from Poe, seeing that he had his supplies, I didn't need to be around him for much longer. I had walked out the room, I could hear the faint rolling of the droid close behind me. I stepped aside to let him roll by, watching as he rolled into the surgical department. 

"Hey," I felt a hand on my upper arm, "I didn't get to say thank you." 

"Oh, it's nothing," I waved him off, "Commander." He pulled a face, scrunching his face up in disgust. He was doing it playfully, if I didn't feel so uneasy I might have laughed.

"You don't have to call me that." He mumbled softly, smiling down at me.

"It's your title, isn't it?" I raised an eyebrow, his hand was still on my arm and I just wanted him to let go and retreat back to his pilot duties. _Is that what you really want, Isla?_

"It is-"

"Then it's only right that I use it," I took a step away from him, he watched and slowly dropped his hand. "You'll have to excuse me, Commander. I've got things to get to." With that I walked away, into the backroom, where he wouldn't see me. I didn't really have things to do, I just wanted to get away from him. I didn't want to get away from him because he was terrible and I couldn't stand him, nothing near that. He was good at making me nervous, I didn't know what to make of it. 

_He's probably like this with every girl._

He was the best pilot the resistance had, to top it all off he was easy on the eyes. I laughed to myself, wasn't I little too old to let men make me feel nervous and giddy? I thought I was well past that stage of life. 

That night while in my room, I couldn't get the commander out of my head. I felt absolutely embarrassed at the fact that I let a stranger have such a deep-seated effect on me. The next morning was a busy one. We were getting a new medic on the base, a human. Not that I was tired of the droids but having another human in the med bay would be a nice change. I've come to realize that droids were very serious, at least the ones I worked with. It was nothing but work related conversations. It became very wearisome and predictable. I was looking forward to have some sort of interaction with our new doctor, I was just hoping that we could talk about anything but work. 

"I'm Noa Bast." He gave my hand a firm shake, I didn't even know if I had heard him correctly, there was too much commotion all around us. He was tall, really tall. I didn't want to check him out, but he was standing right in front of me, what was I supposed to do? His bright blue eyes were scanning over my face, obviously waiting for a reply.

"I'm Isla." I said over the buzzing of the droids who were gathered around us, they were the most excited about the new medic. 

"Wow, "He had a perfect smile, of course, "That's a beautiful name."

"Thanks." I nodded awkwardly, "I think the med droids are dying to meet you." I added, stepping away from him. Watching with amusement as the droids bombarded the young doctor with various questions. General Organa showed up to meet the base's new doctor, C-3PO by her side. I had imagined the doctor to look entirely different. I thought he was going to be older, and not so handsome. 

"I'll give you a small tour," General Organa, motioned for the doctor to follow her outside. She turned slightly, catching my eye.

"Isla, won't you accompany us?" She asked. I wanted to say no, to ask why she wanted me to go along but I knew better than that. I lingered a few steps behind them, hoping they would just forget that I was there. They had stopped as the general motioned towards the port. The crews were washing ships, or doing repairs, with the help of droids. The port was never quiet, and it was never calm. There was always so much to do, I always watched them in awe. 

"Unfortunately, most of your patients will be our pilots." General Organa said quietly.

"General." Poe was approaching us, with that smile that reached his eyes plastered on his face. I decided that I wasn't going to make eye contact with the pilot. 

"Commander Dameron, just in time to make acquaintance with our new doctor." Noa and Poe shook hands and introduced themselves and talked briefly. I was trying to come up with a good excuse to get back to the med bay. If General Organa had needed to say something to me she would have done so already. Walking around with them seemed useless, I felt out of place. I was glancing back at the medical quarters, longing to be back at work, where I didn't have to worry about bumping into cute pilots. 

"You think I can borrow you?" Poe asked, I didn't bother to look at him, hoping he was talking to someone other than me.

"Isla." This time it was General Organa.

"Hm? " I looked over to her, "Sorry, daydreaming." I lied. I guess now I have to look at Poe, don't I? He was staring at me curiously, a smirk on his lips. I frowned slightly, wondering what he was thinking.

"My bandage needs changing." He announced, his suit wasn't fully zipped. I could see the red staining the white.

"Let's go back-"

"I've got some," He interrupted, "Remember?" I do remember. Maybe I was hoping he would just comply so that I didn't have to go over to his room. 

"Lead the way." I instructed. 

"Don't keep her for too long." Noa interjected. I gave him a puzzled look. I didn't have anything else to do, what was he talking about? I was going to ask why, but I refrained thinking that it might not have been polite. Poe was looking over my head, in the direction of Noa.

He shot him a smile, "Already running a tight ship, huh?" His hand was back on my upper arm, where it had previously been twice before. I didn't have enough time to turn around and catch Noa's expression, Poe was gently leading me towards his quarters. 

"Why did you say that?" I asked. He was laughing, he glanced down at me for a moment. 

"I don't like the way he said it." Poe stated seriously. "You're still doing your job, it isn't as if I'm whisking you away for fun."

"Right." 

BB-8 was in Poe's room, he rolled over quickly, beeping happily when he spotted Poe. He turned his head to me, beeping once.

"Hi." I responded, smiling brightly. BB-8 was a much cuter and engaging droid than the ones I was stuck with back in the medical quarters. Poe took a seat and I disposed of his old bandage and then softly cleaned the wound. There was a knock on the door, I turned, and then looked back down at Poe.

"Could it be your new boss?" He winked. I rolled my eyes when he was no longer looking at me. Could it be? It would have been odd if Noa personally came to Poe's room to ask me to come back to med bay.   
It wasn't Noa, it was a girl. The girl from yesterday. She didn't always look so annoyed, I assumed her annoyance was geared towards me. I saw as she looked past Poe and at me. Her slightly smiling face turned sour.

"You've got company." She stated dully. I didn't know what her problem was with me. I didn't even know the girls name.

 _She likes him,_ I thought. That would definitely explain the death glares she was sending my way. Why wouldn't she like him? Poe was a very likable guy. Then it occurred to me that maybe she wasn't a girl with a crush, she could easily be Poe's girlfriend. I didn't know anything about Poe, why wouldn't he have a girlfriend? If she was his girlfriend, I unquestionably understood her annoyance. 

"Yeah, you need something?" He asked, leaning up against the door frame.

"No," She shook her head quickly, "I'll see you around." She was gone before Poe could shut the door.

"I can do this pretty quick," I ripped open the packaging that the bandage was in, "You can call her back. I'll be outta here in a minute." He sat in front of me, looking up at the ceiling.

"No," He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, "You sort of saved me just now." 

"Saved you?" He opened his eyes and nodded up at me.

"From Lorelie." Saved, huh? So then she wasn't his girlfriend. _What do you care about whether or not he has a girlfriend, Isla_ , I don't care, I argued with myself. 

"Well, I'm here to help." I smiled slightly, earning a soft chuckle out of Poe. 

"I should head back, don't want to be gone for too long." I joked once I was done with him. He didn't laugh at my lame joke, he walked me out.

"Want me to walk you back?" He offered. 

I shook my head, "I'm fine, thanks."

"I'll see you around, Isla." He sounded so sure, it wasn't a question, it was a statement. _You're looking into things too much._

"Yeah, I hope so." I said to myself as I made my way back to my work quarters.


	3. 3

My notion on how I would have a cool human colleague was falling short. I didn't know what to make of Noa, he was hard to read. He talked to me quite a lot, but I was still unsure about him. He, also made me nervous, and not in the way Poe Dameron did. It was the way he came across, there was something uncanny about him. He wasn't rude in any way, so I decided to put a halt on judging him, at least for now. 

"How old are you, Isla?" He asked one day, leaning against the counter of the desk I was currently sitting behind. His arms were crossed over his chest, stretching the material of his shirt so that it was stretched up against his muscular arms. I glanced up at him, he was smiling down at me. 

"Uh," I sat back in my chair, stretching out my legs, "Why do you ask?" I asked defensively. What did my age have anything to do with work? 

_I'd rather be partaking in one of those boring work related talks with one of the droids,_ I thought. 

His eyebrows were raised, and he cocked his head to the side, studying me. I wanted to ask why he was looking at me like that but I bit my tongue. 

"Too intrusive?" He asked, moving so that his hands were resting on the desk, now he was at eye-level. I watched him carefully, he wasn't too close to me but something about it made me feel as if I was being pushed into a corner. 

"Didn't anyone tell you that it isn't polite to ask a lady her age?" I uttered quietly. He laughed, standing straight. I felt as if I was coming across sternly, but by the look on his face I could tell that he thought I was joking around with him. An FX droid rolled in, saving me from a somewhat unpleasant conversation. 

"May I take these over to the resistance quarters? I've got all the papers together." I asked the droid, reaching over quickly to gather the papers. 

"Make sure you set them in General Organa's hands, she wants to review the pilot's medical history." The droid replied. I nodded to indicate that I understood, I stood up and left the room without another glance at Noa. It was a beautiful day out, on days like this I always wished that I was one of the many working outside. I walked leisurely, wanting to get the most of my short time spent out in the warm sun. I let my head lean back a bit, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath in.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." I opened my eyes quickly, setting a hand over my chest, feeling my now rapid heart beat. 

"You scared me, Commander." I breathed out quickly.

Poe chuckled, looking apologetic, "You don't have to call me that-"

"Not this again." I waved him off quickly. 

His eyes widened, obviously surprised, "I could just command you to call me by my first name." I stared at him for a long while, expecting him to chuckle or to smile. He was being serious, and he was also right. He could command me to do anything. 

_Is that an euphemism, Isla?_ I shook my head slightly, trying to clear my mind. 

"Well, are you, Commander?" I asked slowly. That earned a big smile, that signature smile. 

"No," He clapped his hands together, still smiling at me, "Friends don't have to use titles. Especially if no one else is around." Friends? Was he saying that he considered me to be a friend?

"We're friends?" I blurted out stupidly. 

He reached out to touch my upper arm, "Of course, Isla." He patted my arm, and then playfully frowned. Feigning a hurt look, "Or so I thought." 

I laughed softly, "Okay, we're friends." 

"Isla, weren't you supposed to get those papers to General Organa?" My laughing came to a halt, glancing over my shoulder at Noa. What was he even doing out here? 

"I'm heading over there-"

"My fault." Poe interjected. He gripped my arm tighter, pulling me slightly so that we were standing side by side. "Had to come greet my buddy." He hugged me into his side. If it weren't for Noa giving us an objectionable look, I might have been able to reel in the nervous delight I was feeling. 

"Hey," Poe looked down at me, he was closer than he had ever been before, "You get a break, right? When is it?" 

"Uh-um. After I get this done, actually." I stammered shyly. 

Another soft squeeze, "Do you want to hang out for a bit?" He whispered.

"Yeah," I nodded softly, "I'll be right back." My hand motioned towards the resistance quarters. Poe smiled, dropping his hand.

"I'll wait here for you." He wasn't whispering anymore, he said it loud so that Noa could here. I nodded at him before turning on my heel and walking towards the quarters. I bit my lip, glancing back quickly to see that Noa was following. 

"Called in to have a word with the general about some of her pilots." He said, probably sensing my confusion. I didn't say anything. I sped up a bit, mostly because I didn't want to talk to him. 

"So, you seem to be cozying up with the Commander." He stated accusingly. I turned slightly, glaring at him. I didn't know what to say that, what was I supposed to say? I didn't like his accusatory tone, but I didn't know whether it was right or not to say what I really wanted to say.

_Why is it any of your business?_

"I don't think this conversation is appropriate for work." I asserted. I managed to reach the quarters before he did. I scanned the room hurriedly, not wanting to be in the same space as Noa. The general seemed to be busy, which made me lucky. She thanked me for the papers and then excused herself. I passed Noa as I made my way back outside. There was definitely something about him that was off, but I couldn't put my finger on it. 

I made my way back to where Poe said he would be waiting for me, feeling a teensy bit overjoyed. I smiled as I stopped in front of him.

"What's that smile for?" He asked softly, "From getting away from that new doctor, or for getting to hang out with me?" 

"I hope it's for getting to hang out with me." He added quickly, grinning.

He spoke once more, not letting me answer. Which I was thankful for, I wasn't ready to admit that I was joyous over the mere fact of getting to hang out with him.

"What did he say?" He asked, "He followed you in, I was curious." He shrugged a shoulder. I could lie, I could easily make something up but nothing was coming to mind.

"He thought I was 'cozying up with the Commander'" I used my fingers to make air quotes. Poe looked confused and then his features hardened.

"He really said that?" Poe said, mostly to himself. I nodded even though he wasn't looking at me. He was looking behind me at the resistance quarters, to where Noa currently was.

"That's bad, isn't it?" I asked quietly. Maybe hanging out wouldn't be such a good idea. I didn't know if the pilots had any rules, any less the Commander. Maybe they weren't allowed to build relationships.

_You mean friendships._

Yeah, friendships.

"Maybe we should stop bumping into each other." I suggested. Poe's features softened, he looked over at me quickly.

"Don't be silly." He laughed. "I'd rather stop bumping into that guy." He jerked his head to the left, towards the resistance quarters. He reached his hand out, palm up.

"You hungry?"

"A little." I nodded. He wiggled his fingers on the hand that was extended towards me. 

"People will really think I'm cozying up with the Commander if I take your hand." I protested. Poe wiggled his eyebrows at me, never dropping his hand.

_Just take his hand, you know you want to._

"Hand is getting tired over here." He reached over and grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together. My hand felt really small in his. They were warm and much rougher than mine. I glanced around us quickly, expecting to see someone staring at us. Maybe I was just looking out for Noa, if he saw us, he would probably have something to say about it.

Surprisingly, no one was watching us. I eased up a bit, now focusing entirely on the fact that my hand was intertwined with Poe's.


	4. 4.

We sat on the far side of the resistance base, where it was secluded and fairly quiet. The grass on the knoll we were sitting on was nice and cool. I stretched my legs out and leaned back on both my hands, relishing on how satisfying it was to be outside. I was going to take my break inside the med bay just like I did every other day, but this was much more enjoyable. We had ate in silence, but nothing about the silence was awkward.

"So," Poe said, leaning back so the he was propped up on his elbows. "What's with that guy?" I made an 'I don't know' noise, shrugging my shoulders. Poe was looking up at me, squinting due to the sunlight.

"He's either somewhat of an authoritarian," Poe sat up, running his hands through his already disheveled hair "Or, he has a secret crush on you." He chuckled at the last part.

I marveled at the thought, "No, no way." I shook my head slowly. _Why would Noa have a crush on me? He barely knew me._ The idea of him liking me was highly doubtful, or at least I thought so.

_Why do you think Poe makes you nervous? You barely know him, and you obviously have a crush._

Does that mean that is was possible that Noa could like me? Maybe instead of secretly liking me, he secretly disliked me. That's why he wouldn't leave me alone, he wanted to make my life difficult. _No._ That sounded a little silly. Noa wasn't vicious, he was just a tiny bit exasperating.  
"Ugh." I said out loud, not even realizing I had done so. Poe was watching me with an amused look on his face,

"What?" He asked, smiling, "Girls dream for guys like him to notice them."

"Well, I'm not a _girl_." I argued, rolling my eyes. I was bothered by what Poe had said, what was he trying to imply?

"Isla." He wasn't smiling anymore, instead he quickly looked me over, from head to toe. "I know you're not."

"I should head back." I stood up as fast as I could, not bothering to look at Poe. I could see him getting up in my peripheral vision. I had started to walk away from the peaceful knoll, Poe intervened. He was grabbing my wrist, pulling at me softly.

"Isla, don't be mad." He pleaded, "I didn't mean any harm."

"I'm not mad." Which wasn't entirely a lie, I might have been irritated but I wasn't exactly mad. I pulled on my arm, indicating that I wanted him to let go. "I have to get back to Noa." I said sarcastically. Poe's apologetic features changed, now he looked irked.

"I'm sure he wants to discuss what I've been up to on my break." I added. I pulled my wrist out of his grasp, turning away from and making my way back to work. I was glad he didn't try to stop me again, I didn't dare look back. I just wanted to forget that whole conversation. Well, I was definitely right about one thing, Noa did want to discuss what I was up to during my break. He looked sincere, as if he was actually interested. I was sitting at the front counter, sorting through some papers when he walked in. Flashing his pearly whites, he made his way behind the counter, stopping to stand right beside me.

"What have you been up to?" Straight to the point.

"Paperwork." I tapped the papers I was currently looking through. He laughed, shaking his head.

"I know that, Isla," He was still laughing, I stared at him, furrowing my eyebrows, "What did you do on your break?" I thought for a moment, going over my options. He already knew I spent my break with Poe, there was no use in lying to him.

"I had lunch." I responded shortly. Droids came to my rescue once more, I sighed inwardly. I blocked out their conversation, focusing on the papers in front of me. I found I couldn't focus, not until Noa was gone.

"Doctor duties." He sighed playfully. He walked past me, patting my arm. "I'll see you around." _Duh_ , I rolled my eyes as he walked away.

Seeing Noa 'around' was starting to become more bothersome than the unchanging conversations with the medic droids. He was super busy, but he always found time to come and talk to me. That gesture might have been sweet if I actually liked him. I was conflicted, I didn't know if I liked or disliked him. I knew that I could do without the constant questioning from him. I had been in the recovery room, checking in on the little patients who were housed there for the moment. The med bay was big, but it wasn't big enough to avoid Noa. I felt as if everywhere I went, he would magically appear. I had to keep reminding myself that seeing him almost _everywhere_ was just a coincidence.  
It had been a couple days since I last seen Poe, maybe a week, I was losing track. The last I saw him I was irritated but now I was lamely missing his presence. I also wasn't making any effort to bump into him, I stayed cooped up in the med bay up until it was dark and I could retreat to my room. I was apprehensive about seeing him again, thinking that maybe I acted harsh towards him. Whatever the reason may be, I knew I'd seem him eventually.

I was currently staring out the large glass doors, watching as various people went about their day. A figure popped up, blocking my view. They were waving excitedly.

I laughed, checking the time. A nearby FX droid gave me the okay to head out. "I haven't seen you in ages!" The tall, blonde exclaimed, engulfing me in a hug.

"Well, you've been a busy bee." I laughed, giving her a tight squeeze. Jules was my only friend on the base, she was part of the crew for the blue squadron. She probably knew everything there was to know about ships, it was her job. If you were having trouble with your craft, Jules could definitely fix it. She was my very first patient when I got to the base, so I was a bit of a nervous wreck when I was the one who had to stop the bleeding on her arm as the medic droids prepared for surgery. Jules spent a lot of time in the med bay recovering from an injury that almost took her arm off. She had gotten her arm stuck a little too close to one the ships engines. She had confided in the recovery room that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to work on ships if her arm didn't regain all it's feeling. Lucky for her, she was out of the med bay in three short months. I hadn't seen her in almost two weeks, that was normal for us. Jules was a much busier person than I was.

"I know, " She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder, "I just got back, I had to meet with General Organa and then decided to come annoy you." _Just got back? From where?_  
I was dying to know what she was talking about, where she had come back from. When Jules pulled at my arm, leading me over to her room I knew I was about to find out. I had some things to tell her also, mostly about Noa.

"Commander." Jules greeted excitedly, Jules was mostly always excited and beaming it was who she was. I did sense that this was not regular Jules, she sounded a little too happy. It didn't surprise me that we bumped into Poe, Jules' room was located in the same quarters as the pilots. I allowed myself to look at him, he was looking at Jules. It gave me a chance to take in his features, not that I hadn't done so before. _He's so handsome, it isn't fair._ I gulped, happy that no one here could read thoughts.

"Jules, you did a great job out there." He congratulated her. What were they talking about? I looked from both of them, waiting to be filled in.

"That's what I so excited to tell you about, Isla." Jules turned to me, beaming, "I'm part of the blue squadron now, not just as crew either. I'm a pilot." She smiled, looking thoroughly proud of herself.

"Jules, wow!" I exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly. I was proud of my friend, I couldn't contain it. "That's wonderful." So that's why she's been gone, she was on a mission. A mission she returned from safely. I felt a knot in my stomach at the thought of Jules getting hurt. I didn't dwindle on it, instead I hugged her, congratulating her once again.

"Poe." I was still hugging Jules, we were swaying from side to side happily. I could tell who the voice belonged to, little miss death glare.

"Let's catch up." I said, nudging her towards her room. She nodded, leading the way. I walked normally, not wanting to make it seem as if I was in a hurry to get away from Poe.  
Jules told me all she was allowed to tell me, I knew her missions were classified so I respected it and tried not to pry. She was so delighted, it was written all over her face. I decided telling her about Noa could wait. I thought bringing him up would sour her happy energy. We talked for hours, and I didn't mind one bit. I didn't know when Jules would have to up and go, so I enjoyed every minute of our sometimes meaningless conversation.

It was late when I finally decided to call it night and head back to my room. There wasn't anyone out, except for one person. It just had to be Poe, he was making his way to his room, holding a stack of papers. His back was towards me so if I was lucky, he wouldn't even notice I was there. I slowed down, trying to be as quiet as possible.

_You're being a little childish, don't you think? You can't avoid him forever._

I went back to walking at my regular pace, but I decided that I would keep my head down. Maybe then he would think that I hadn't noticed him first.

"Isla." I looked up slowly, pretending to be surprised. _Oh, Isla, you're ridiculous._

"Commander." I nodded.

"Are you mad at me?" He asked, the question caught me off guard.

I shook my head, "No, why?"

"Thought we were on a first name basis." He replied slowly, watching me, waiting for my reaction.

"Sorry, just habit, I guess."

"No," He shook his head, "I'm sorry. You looked upset the last time we spoke-"

"Hey, you left your jacket-" Both Poe and I turned in the direction of the voice. Lorelie was standing in her doorway, holding Poe's jacket in one hand. She wasn't looking at me, for once. She was staring at Poe with an accusing look.

"You left your jacket here last night." She finished, she glanced at me. She looked at me patiently, waiting for me to say something. She raised an eyebrow and bit her lip, not looking away from me. She was taunting me.

"It's late, Commander. You'll have to excuse me." I mumbled, walking past him.


	5. 5

Work the next morning, was a bit busy, which I was thankful for. I hadn't been able to stop and take a break all morning, meaning I was so wrapped up in work that I didn't have any time to think about anything else. Which meant, I didn't have any time to think about Poe or that girl. 

I didn't know what I was feeling exactly, I felt embarrassed even if I hadn't done anything. It was clear that Lorelie wasn't fond of me, and last night definitely let me know that she also wasn't fond of me spending time with Poe. It was written all over her face. Maybe I shouldn't be getting closer to Poe. We could be acquaintances, not friends, and definitely not anything more than that.

"Isla, do you have the patient's files?" I could tell by the look on Noa's face that he had been trying to get my attention, So much for not thinking about Poe.

"Yes," I nodded, sliding the papers over to him, "Here you go."

"Patient in room 4 needs his lunch brought in." Noa added, he was flipping through the stack of papers. He glanced up at me, his eyes scanning over my face, "What are you thinking about?" I could feel my cheeks heat up. Great, now I looked flustered. There was no way I was going to tell him I was thinking about Poe.

I yawned, "I didn't sleep well last night, I was thinking about how great it would be to get into bed for a nap." It wasn't entirely a lie, my body finally shut down about three hours before I was supposed to be up for work.

"Now," He smiled, "That does sound great." I had enough of his staring, I excused myself and went into room 4. Before I walked in, I glanced to my left, catching Noa still staring at me. I sighed in annoyance, hoping he would hear.

"Anything good?" The pilot asked as I walked in, trying to sit up in the hospital bed, wincing at the pain. He sat back and sighed loudly.

"The usual." I walked over, the tray of food in my hands.

"I'm getting tired of this tasteless bread." He grumbled as I set the food down, walking over to help him sit up. I was never fully aware of how the pilots were hurt, just that they were hurt. Sometimes when I was assigned to paperwork, I would get to read over the cause of injury. Mostly all of them were from battle, that's as far as I allowed to read, other information was sealed in a white envelope. I never questioned what the pilots did, but I was curious as to why so many of them ended up in the med bay. Whoever they were up against seemed to have the upper hand. I knew little about the first order, only hearing it in faint whispers from people who worked on the base. One thing was for sure, everyone who worked in the resistance base was really good at keeping everything under wraps. I never felt unsafe on the base, and I was hoping that I could continue living in peace.

"Let's get you better, then you can leave the med bay and this tasteless bread behind." I said, setting the tray of food on his lap softly, afraid that I would somehow inflict pain on the already hurt pilot.

"Thanks." He grumbled, devouring the tasteless food anyways. My afternoon consisted of changing bloody bandages and helping feed patients. Break time rolled by and I all I wanted to do was go to my room and take a 10 minute nap. I decided against it, knowing all too well that I wouldn't be able to wake up on time. I was sitting against the side of the med bay, I crossed my legs, getting my legs out of the sun. I usually didn't sit outside but my usual spot inside was quiet, I was afraid of falling asleep on the job.

"Mind if I join you?" _Say no._

"If you want." Contradicting my thoughts. Noa sat beside me, closer than I expected him to. His arm and leg were touching mine, I shifted slightly, hoping to get some space between us.

"Your hair," He smiled, "That's whats different about you today." I nodded slowly, finding it a bit odd that he had realized. I was in a rush this morning, I didn't have time to braid my hair.

"I like it like this." He reached over to touch a strand of hair. I couldn't even register what was happening, I just froze. I wanted to move away, I wanted to get up and leave, but I didn't do either. I made a humming noise, and turned to face him so that his hand was no longer on my hair. He dropped his hand slowly, never taking his eyes off of me.

"Am I interrupting something?" I jumped slightly, unaware that anyone else was around.

Noa laughed, nudging me slightly, "Maybe." He answered. I frowned at him and then up at Poe. How did he manage to appear out of nowhere?

"No," I argued, looking over at Noa, "We were just sitting around."

"Right," Noa nodded at me, grinning, "Just sitting around." His tone was making it seem as if we were hiding something, that we were doing more than just 'sitting around'. I scooted away from Noa before rising to my feet.

"Can I talk to you, Isla?" Poe asked, looking hopeful. A part of me didn't want to, knowing that it would probably be an awkward conversation. I only nodded, following him as he lead us to somewhere more secluded.

"Look, last night was not what it seemed like." He had stopped walking abruptly, I almost ran right into him.

What was he talking about?

"What did last night seem like?" I pondered. He looked nervous and he wasn't looking at me. It was kind of cute, but that didn't matter right now.

"You know," He rubbed the back of his neck, "Like I had spent the night with Lorelie."

"Oh." Right, I would be lying to myself if I said I hadn't thought about that. I reckoned that it was none of my business and tried to forget all about it. I hadn't thought about it all day, but it might have been the reason I couldn't get any sleep last night.

"Commander, I-I.." I was talking quickly, stammering over my words, "You don't have to explain yourself to me."

"You left upset and I-"

I waved him off, embarrassed that he knew I was upset, "I get it. You didn't spend the night. I'm not upset."  
He nodded once, shifting on one foot to the other, "And that?" He cocked his head towards the med bay, "Was that what it seemed like?" Our eyes had locked and I couldn't look away, Poe looked hopeful awaiting my response.

"I don't understand."

"With Noa." He said quietly, "You looked pretty cozy." Why does he care? Did it bother him?  
I couldn't calm my nerves, there was a huge knot forming in my stomach. My mind was racing of the possibility of Poe being bothered by Noa being so close to me. I was getting ahead of myself, maybe he just wanted to know. It probably didn't have any affect on him at all.

"It was nothing, he was getting too close." I whispered.

"So you should have told him that." Poe responded calmly.

"He hasn't done anything yet," As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I sounded absolutely ridiculous. Yet? What was I doing? Waiting for him to try something with me, waiting for him to cross the line?

Poe walked over to me, reaching over to grab my hand, "Isla, if he's making you uncomfortable, you need to let him know."

Noa made me uneasy but he hadn't actually done anything. He's just wasn't aware of the way he came across. I stopped thinking, realizing it was sounding as if I was defending him.  
"He's fine. He just-"

"I'll let him know then." Poe interjected, dropping my hand.

"No!" I exclaimed as quietly as I could, he had started to walk away. _This is just great. Good job, Isla._  
I scurried after him, grabbing hold of his arm, I held on as tight as I could. Poe was still walking, dragging me along.

"Poe, please." I let go quickly, running to stop in front of him. I set my hands on his chest, preventing him to go any further. "Don't." I pleaded. If Poe told Noa to back off it would just make things weird for me, especially at work. I would deal with Noa myself, if there was ever any reason to.

Poe sighed, "Just let me talk to him."

I shook my head, just the thought of it was making me freak out, "No. Poe, it's fine." He glanced at me for a second, before stepping around me and making his way to where I had been sitting minutes before.

"Oh, god." I mumbled as I ran after him. Noa was still in the same spot, he spotted me and a smile appeared on his face.

"Look it's Lorelie!" I grabbed Poe's arm once more, I looked over, already knowing that Lorelie would be giving me the death stare. Where was she when I actually needed her? I needed someone to distract Poe because I obviously wasn't doing a very good job. I had almost wanted to call her over, to ask her to take Poe away.  
Poe was going to make things worse for me, Noa would only be angry that I had been talking about him to Poe. Lorelie wasn't going to come to my rescue, she had already stalked off in the direction of her room. I slid past Poe, shooting him a glare, I sprinted back to the side of the med bay. I was going to beat Poe, I wasn't going to let him do this, not right now.

I grabbed Noa, pulling at his arms. I wasn't going to explain the situation Noa, I was just hoping he wouldn't find it odd that I was trying to get him back inside. He looked confused but he stood up, watching me with an amused look.

"Let's go." I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the building quickly. I was hoping Poe wouldn't follow us in. Noa gave me a puzzled look as I dropped his hand and sighed loudly, my heart was beating rapidly. If I was lucky I just prevented an awkward conversation. At least I had avoided it for the time being.  
Would Poe be upset with me now? Now that I had prevented him from talking to Noa. I rubbed a hand over my face, and then rubbed my temples. It was fine, for now. If Poe wanted to follow us in, he would've done so already.

"What was that about?" Noa asked, leaning up against the wall beside me. He was as close as he was when we were sitting outside.

"I don't know. I have to check in on some patients." I mumbled as I walked away. I found myself constantly glancing out the huge windows, expecting to see Poe. Waiting for him to come in and make matters worse. My mind was playing with me, Poe never showed up. That didn't mean he was going to forget all about it. A part of me knew Poe was going to have a talk with Noa no matter what I said. He would probably do it when I wasn't around just so that I wouldn't be able to stop him.

The walk to my room that night was far from peaceful, I had a dreadful feeling deep inside my stomach. I couldn't stop thinking about what would've happened if Poe had actually had the chance to talk to Noa. I shouldn't have said that he was getting too close. But he was. You didn't like how close he was.  
So maybe Noa was getting a little too close but I shouldn't have said anything about it to Poe. Now I had caused something I didn't have any control over. I could try to reason with Poe, tell him that I would tell Noa that he was making me a little uneasy. It was only right, Poe had no reason to be involved, this didn't concern him. Before I could register what I was doing, I was standing in front of Poe's door. The light was shining through the blinds, indicating that he was home. I shook my head, what the hell was I doing? I stood there silently, arguing with myself internally. I was going to tell him that I would handle it and I didn't need any help. That should work, right?

I reached out my hand slowly, almost hesitantly. I knocked softly, waiting nervously. _Too late to turn around now._


	6. 6

I heard movement from inside and a muffled 'Hold on'. Just hearing his voice made me want to turn around and run to my room. My room was too far, I wouldn't be able to make it there in time. Those mere seconds while waiting for him to open the door was just enough time to fully take in my actions and deeply regret them. It was a bit late, he could've been in bed. I sighed, reaching up to rub my tired eyes. The door swung open and I stared at Poe for a moment, feeling embarrassed. It also didn't help that Poe had opened the door without a shirt on. Do not look at his body, Isla. DON'T

"O-oh." I stammered, taking a step back, "I can just talk to you tomorrow." His eyes look tired and his hair was messy, maybe he was in bed, and I came and bothered him.

"I was dozing off." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Oops." I blushed.  _Great timing._

I nodded, "Sorry. I'll just go-"

"Wanna come in?" He moved over slightly, holding the door open for me. I glanced around me quickly, checking to see if there was anyone watching us.

"Isla, I'm cold, come on." He urged. I sighed as I walked past him. Going over to where BB-8 was and saying hello. I had been in Poe's room before, but I felt more nervous about it now, maybe because I hadn't had a purpose for being here this time.

"Okay." I turned around, with all intentions to say what I needed to say and then leave. The plan backfired, I had turned and Poe was leaning against the wall, watching me. I couldn't control my wandering eyes, I looked at his naked chest. I gulped and crossed my arms over my chest, standing up straight.

"I wanted to talk." I whispered, hoping that I didn't sound nervous or even worse, flustered. Poe nodded, walking further into the room to take a seat at his desk chair.

"Yeah?" He raised an eyebrow, "Most girls don't show up at guys' rooms this late just to talk." I didn't say anything, his comment making me speechless.  _Don't even think of what he's insinuating._ I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

"I was kidding, Isla. Sorry." He mumbled, looking a bit embarrassed, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Right," I nodded, "I wanted to talk about Noa. About how I'll let him know that he's making me uncomfortable. I don't need your help." I had tried to keep my tone neutral but towards the end it sounded a bit stressed. He didn't say anything, he was looking at me though. I couldn't read his expression.

"I figured, I just wanted to talk to him." He grumbled, "He doesn't need you to protect him, Isla." He was probably referring to earlier, when I had practically dragged Noa away just so that Poe wouldn't get a chance to talk to him.

"Are you saying you'll tell him that he's been making you uncomfortable or are you saying that you'll tell him once he does it again?" He questioned calmly, never taking his eyes off me. I decided to look away, to look at my hands, my shoes. I just couldn't look at him any longer. Poe was just the kind of person that made me nervous, and I wasn't too sure as to why.

"I haven't decided that yet." I answered truthfully. It was at least half the truth. I knew I wasn't going to bring it up out of the blue, if Noa ever did anything I didn't like I would tell him there and then. I wouldn't shrug it off and try to forget it ever happened.

"I think you have decided." Poe said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "So which one is it?"

I sighed in annoyance, looking up at him just to make sure he caught my irked expression, "You're missing the point. I just said I would do it and I don't need any help from you, thank you very much." This time he raised both eyebrows, a small smirk appearing on his lips.

"So, by the sound of that, you're going to wait until he does it again." Poe shrugged, "Right?" I bit down on my bottom lip and huffed softly.  _Why does he care?_ I figured he understood now and maybe he would back off.  _Just leave. Go back to your room,_  I thought. That sounded like a great idea right about now.  _Or you can ask him why he cares so much._

My mind decided to go with the second suggestion, blurting out the words before I could stop myself, "Why do you care, Poe?" He looked surprised, but I interrupted before he could give me a response, "He hasn't done anything too drastic, if he ever makes me uncomfortable again, I'll let him know."

I couldn't stop myself, "Why won't you just say 'okay'? Why do you have to keep questioning me?"

"You're defending him," He pointed a finger at me, "So what if he hasn't done anything 'too drastic'? I don't care if the only thing he's ever done is look at you the wrong way. Someone needs to tell him that it isn't okay. And you aren't going to do it."

"I just said I was!" I exclaimed, rolling my eyes. I knew I was defending him, and I couldn't explain why. "I definitely don't need you to do it. You'll only make things weird for me. I have to see him everyday because I work with him, you don't."

"That's what I'm worried about, Isla!" He stood up abruptly, I took involuntary steps back. "What he'll do when I'm not around." I stayed silent, repeating his words over in my head. I didn't know how to respond, I was a bit baffled. His words had caught me off guard.

"He won't do anything-"

"Stop defending him." Poe demanded, "Don't make excuses for that guy, Isla." I glared, not quite enjoying the tone he had taken with me.

"Why are you getting so worked up? I said I would take care of it." I mumbled. There was knock at the door and I was so thankful for it. This conversation didn't go as smoothly as I had visualized it. Poe sighed, walking over to the door. It was the Admiral, he didn't say anything at first, he looked from me to Poe for a couple seconds. I imagined he was trying to make sense as to why I was in the Commander's room.

"Uh." He glanced at me once again. I figured it was something important, something I had no business of hearing. I didn't bother with a 'bye' or 'see you later'. I just walked out, not before greeting the admiral. I didn't dare look back, I don't know if I could handle one last look at a shirtless Poe.

I was up earlier than usual the next morning, sitting in the small nook in my kitchen. I had opened my blinds slightly, watching the sky. It was still dark out, I was sure I couldn't sleep due to my conversation with Poe last night. I kept replaying it in my mind, over and over. I was pondering over whether I was wrong for getting snappy with him. I guess he just wanted to help, but I had made it clear that I didn't need any of his help. I grabbed the small mug that was sitting in front of me, wrapping my hands around it, enjoying the warmth it provided. I had already gotten ready for work, now I just had to wait two hours before I could actually leave my room. I had been staring out my small window for what seemed like hours, peaceful hours. There was something serene about being awake before anyone else, about looking out at an empty base. That's when I spotted Noa, his room was some ways across from mine. He was jogging over to someone or something? I couldn't tell. I could see his lips moving as he motioned towards the med bay. Someone must have gotten hurt, I knew once the med droids came to join Noa. I closed my blinds, leaning back into the wall. I finished my warm beverage and then set in the sink. I decided to leave my hair down, not for the sake of Noa. I grabbed my jacket and walked out.

"I saw the commotion. Figured I should come in, just in case I was needed." I explained to the droid.

"Room 5, you might be needed." He replied. I nodded, heading in the direction of room 5. I was about to open the door before it swung open. Revealing Noa, he walked out, causing me to walk backwards.

"You're up early, Isla." He was rolling his white uniform sleeves down, buttoning them. I could spot small specks of red.

"I saw-" I mumbled, "What happened?" I asked. I moved slightly, so that I could peek past Noa and through the glass doors. Noa grabbed me, placing me back to where I had initially been.

"It's been handled. You can go back to your room, if you wish." He was still gripping my upper arms. I shrugged him off, wiggling away from him. "Isla." There was something in the way he was acting, like he was trying to keep me from what was going on.

"Who's in there, Noa?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow. He didn't say anything, he moved out of my way. He sighed and walked away. I pushed the doors in quickly, walking into the room quietly.

"Poe?" I asked quickly, walking over to his bed. "What's wrong? What happened?" I was by his side now. He had a bandage wrapped around his hand, it went all the way up to his elbow. It was lightly stained with his blood.

"Just a gruesome cut. It wouldn't stop bleeding." He shrugged.

"Is your x-wing okay?" I asked, assuming he had gotten hurt when he was flying. I was pretty sure that was why the admiral showed up at Poe's door, to tell him that they needed him for some top secret mission.  
He shook his head, he looked as if he wanted to say something, but I was sure he wasn't allowed to.

"It's fine, I got hurt while...I wasn't on my ship when I got the cut."

"You're fine then?" I asked quietly. He nodded once, looking away from me and towards the doors.

"You tell him?" Poe asked. I furrowed my eyebrows, not this again. Not now. Noa was the last person I wanted to talk about. Poe looked fine, minus the arm. I was happy that he didn't get too hurt doing whatever he was doing.

"No."

"The grabbing wasn't crossing the line?" He asked, looking up at me.

"I'm glad you're okay." I changed the subject, hoping he would sense that I didn't want to discuss Noa with him again.

"Thanks. But that wasn't what we were talking about." I sighed, glancing around the brightly lit room. Trying to find some sort of distraction.

"I said-"

Poe interrupted, "You said you would tell him if he ever made you uncomfortable again." He was staring at me intently, "So either you lied or you're into it...or whatever." He grumbled.

"I didn't lie" I said through gritted teeth. I was too caught up in trying to see who was in the room to even register what Noa was doing. It hadn't bothered me this time, mostly because I was paying no attention to him.

"Seems like it."

"Why do you care?!" I exclaimed loudly, not even thinking about whether or not I would be heard. "I'll do it when I feel it's right, okay?" I didn't need Poe to pester me, it had started to become annoying.

"Come on, Isla." He was smiling. He was actually smiling at me. I was angry and he was sitting there with a stupid smile on his face. What the hell was he smiling about?

"I thought it was obvious." He shrugged one shoulder, looking sheepish.

"Well, it isn't." I snapped as I marched out of his room


	7. 7

I had spent the rest of my morning reeling in my displeasure towards Poe. With his stupid smile on his cute face. Noa didn't ask me to go in and check in on Poe, he usually did with all our other patients. I was glad he didn't, I didn't want to see Poe, not right now. I was able to avoid Poe all morning. Lunch had rolled by and I was sitting outside with Jules.

"Here, I made cake." Jules sat next to me, handing me a plate. Jules loved to bake, she usually had something for me to try almost every week. I never complained, whatever Jules baked was always delicious. Today, it was vanilla and strawberry cake.  
"You alright?" She asked, "You look...different." I was thinking on whether on telling her the real reason I was upset. I had never told Jules about Poe or Noa. I thought she wouldn't understand, I decided to lie.

"I've had a long day." The lack of sleep I had gotten the night before was really starting to kick in. Going home and jumping right into bed sounded amazing. I wanted to sleep the day away, then maybe I wouldn't be so annoyed at Poe. Also, I was safe in my room, I couldn't bump into Poe there. Jules bought my white lie, we went on to talk about random things. Mostly about how Jules was so excited to fly again. Once lunch was over, I walked Jules to post, trying to kill as much time as I possibly could. When I walked back into the med bay, Noa was guiding Poe out of his room. Dammit.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks. " Poe mumbled. He spotted me and then glanced over to Noa. I glared at him, hoping he wasn't about to open his mouth about something that didn't concern him. I bit my lip in vexation, wondering if I should intervene or stay out of it.

"Hey-"Poe said, looking stern and commanding. If I wasn't so keen on stopping him I might have stopped and admired the way his face looked. I walked over briskly, grabbing hold of his hand, making sure not to cause any pain.

"Commander." I said as nicely as I could.

"I was going to escort the Commander to his room-"

Poe interrupted, glaring at Noa. "I don't need to be escorted."

"I can do that, you stay here." I said to Noa, reaching over to grab Poe's other hand, tugging slightly. Noa only nodded, he must have had other things to get to. I watched as he walked into the backroom. I let out a sigh of relief once Noa was out of sight. I made sure to walk ahead of Poe as I made my way towards his room. He didn't try to speak to me, which made the walk a little awkward.

"Alright." I clapped my hands together, turning on my heel. With all intention to walk back to work and not utter one word to Poe.

"Wait, Isla." He grabbed my arm as I tried to walk past him. I frowned at him, trying to pry my arm out of his grip.

"I have to get back to work." I said quietly, he let go of me hesitantly.  _What if he had something important to say?_  I hesitated slightly, wanting to stay and hear him out. I decided against it quickly, turning back around and walking back to work. As I staring blankly at the papers I was meant to fill out, I wondered what he was going to say to me. He looked serious, I should have just stayed. It was too late to do anything about it now. I set my head on the cold table, sighing deeply.

When Noa had asked me to take some files to General Organa, I had said no. I didn't mean to say it out loud, but it just slipped out. Noa stared at me for a while, retracting his hand slowly, setting the papers on the counter in front of me. I waited for him to speak first.

"I would do it myself-"

"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed quickly, blushing as I stood up. "It's been a long day. " He reached over to squeeze my shoulder. I sighed softly, feeling worn out.

"I know how you feel, I was going to call it a day but I have to check the commander's wound once more, I thought I had stopped the bleeding-"

"Hey." For crying out loud, did this guy only ever show up when Noa was touching me? Poe was staring at me, raising his eyebrows. I grabbed the papers quickly, shrugging Noa's hand off.

"That didn't bother me, it doesn't count." I said under my breath as I passed Poe. I had done what Noa had asked and now I was taking my sweet time as I walked back. I didn't want to bump into Poe again. I tried not to think of him telling Noa while I was gone. I was going to have to tell Noa, even if he hadn't made me uncomfortable in a while. I just wanted Poe to leave me alone about the situation.

"Did you tell him?" I called out to him. He hadn't noticed me, I caught him off guard.

"Wow, don't you look worked up." He smiled. I glared, not finding him funny at all. His smile never faltered, "You're cute, Isla. Clueless, but cute." It was too late, I knew my cheeks were heating up.

I disregarded the compliment, "I'm not clueless." _Or was I?_ I wasn't even sure what he was referring to. What was there to be clueless about? Noa? Some other situation I wasn't aware of? I was so confused.

He smirked, cocking his head to the side, studying me, "No? I think so."

"Clueless about what?" I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting impatiently. He sighed loudly, rolling his eyes playfully. Before I could even process what was happening, he had his good hand on my waist, pulling me into him. I stumbled, gripping his shoulders to try and steady myself. He pressed his lips to mine, softly, almost hesitantly. He was waiting for me to kiss back before he went on. I stood on my tip toes, pulling him in closer. It wasn't an innocent, new kiss anymore. We were definitely making out now, out in the open. I had pulled away slightly, afraid that someone would see us.

"What was that?" I asked stupidly, taking a step back and nervously flattening out the front of my shirt.

"Think it's called kissing." He shrugged, looking smug. I wasn't even sure if I had heard him correctly, my mind was too busy replaying the Poe's lips on mine. 

"Just 'cause?" I asked slowly, "Just felt like kissing someone?"

He laughed, shaking his head, "No," he smirked, "I felt like kissing you" I shook my head slightly, trying to keep myself from grinning ear to ear. 

"Are you okay?" Poe asked slowly, glancing around us for a moment. We were completely alone. I was a bit surprised at how composed he looked, or maybe he was just as giddy on the inside.

"I'm fine." More than fine, ecstatic. I hid my small smile, I didn't want to come off 'too happy'. Poe nodded slowly, shifting from one foot to the other. He cleared his throat loudly, and played around with his new bandage. 

"You kissed back." He stated quietly. "Look, I like you, Isla-" _Just kiss him._ I closed the gap between us, pressing my lips to his quickly, shutting him up. "We're on the same page then." I mumbled as I pulled away slightly, staring up at him.

"I got to check back in with Noa." I said, pulling away from him. A small frown appearing on his lips. "I'm going to let him know, right now." I added quickly, already walking away. Right, now I had to do it. I wasn't too worked up about it, maybe because my mind was filled with images of kissing Poe. I had already wanted to turn back time and do it all over again. I figured looking all jittery as I told Noa to back off wouldn't be a good look, I had to put my serious face on. I walked into the back room, looking around, spotting Noa sitting at my desk. He was flipping through some papers.

"Noa," I called out, "Can we talk?" He looked up from the papers, smiling up at me.  _Let's just get this over with._


	8. 8

"Walk with me?" He asked, standing up and making his way towards the door. I turned to him as he passed me by. I wanted to say no, I wanted to just tell him here. I was going to blurt it out and then head back to my room, that was the plan.

"Okay." I had wanted to say no, but unsurprisingly I hadn't managed to get it out.

I walked with him, leaving the med bay, accompanying him on his walk towards his room. I looked up at him for a moment, catching his eye.

"Noa," I started, "I want to....discuss something" Just spit it out, Isla! Don't drag this out.

"About us?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." I was slightly taken aback, "I've been meaning to tell-"

"I understand." He nodded, looking away from me. Great, he understood. This was going better than I had expected it to. I sighed in relief, smiling to myself.

I was so relieved that I didn't have to say the actual words, Noa had saved us from an awkward conversation. I chuckled softly, "Good. I'm glad. I'm gonna head-" He stopped me, grabbing hold of my wrist. Okay, maybe he didn't understand. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. He pulled me closer to him, now I was standing right in front of him.

"Noa. Stop-" He was gripping both my shoulders now, keeping me in place. That's when he did it, he actually kissed me. He leaned in way too quick, I didn't have any time to react. So he definitely didn't understand.

"Noa!" I turned my head to the side, causing his face to graze along mine. I pushed him back with little force, causing him to stumble. "I thought you said you understood!" I mumbled incredulously. I couldn't believe that he had just done that.

"I do understand." He reached out for me once more, I took a step back. Not wanting to be anywhere near him at the moment.

"No!" I practically shouted, "I was going to tell you that you make me uncomfortable sometimes, this was a misunderstanding. " I frantically thought back to the way I started the conversation, I guess if I were Noa it would have been easy to think the conversation was going in a totally different direction. I should've made it clear as soon I as I could, now I had to deal with this. I didn't feel overjoyed and jittery like the way I did when Poe kissed me. I had been kissed by two different guys in one day. Well that's a first.

"Isla, what? I thought-"

"I have to go." I was already walking away, as fast as I could without running. I passed Lorelie on my way to my room, I was hoping she had just showed up and that she didn't see Noa kiss me. I made it into my room and shut the door quickly. I walked over to my bed, discarding of my clothes and getting under my covers. I pulled the cover over my head and closed my eyes. I let out an exasperated groan. I was sure my reaction to the kiss solidified my feelings for Noa, but I wasn't too sure how well the guy could take a hint. 

Now I would have to tell Poe.

"No, I don't." Reassuring myself out loud. I could tell Poe that I had actually got it over with and told Noa, that's all he really needed to know, right? Would that be considered lying? I let out another groan, feeling completely overwhelmed. Not only would I have to tell Poe, I had to come face to face with Noa tomorrow morning. I couldn't decide which sounded worse. I was lucky that all thoughts circling around in my head let me sleep. The next morning I didn't feel any better about the situation. I was distressed, it had gotten so bad that I almost felt sick. I wanted to lie and say I was too sick to go into work, but that might have worked seeing that I worked with doctors. I left my room begrudgingly , walking as slowly as possible. I wondered if Noa was feeling as uncomfortable as I was. 

I was too busy replaying how cringey I felt after Noa kissed me, I hadn't noticed Poe until he spoke. 

"I've been waiting for you." He smiled, reaching to give my hand a squeeze. "I've got a small meeting I gotta get to with Lorelie and Jules. I'll see you after?" He asked, looking hopeful. I nodded slowly, displaying my best fake smile. He leaned over to give me a small peck.

"Poe. Hurry up!" Lorelie shouted. Poe gave my hand one more squeeze before walking towards her. She was still looking at me, shaking her head slightly. Shit, what if she saw me yesterday? What if she tells him? I wouldn't put it past her, she didn't have any reason to cover for me. It was highly likely that I was just being paranoid. 

I walked into work slowly, expecting to see Noa. I had paper work to do and lots of it. The droids never did paper work, and neither did Noa. I was always the one who had to keep record of all the patients who were treated in the med bay.   
I hadn't seen Noa all morning, I was starting to think he was avoiding me as much I was avoiding him. So maybe after our awkward ordeal, he finally understood. It didn't look like I would be bumping into Noa, but that didn't stop me from going back to my room to have lunch. 

"Hey! Glad I caught you." Poe smiled, he was walking towards me, his own lunch in his hands. I motioned for him to come in once I had unlocked my door.

"Did Lorelie say anything...." I trailed off. Watching as his cheerful expression morphed into confusion.

"About what?" He asked while looking around, he had never been in my room before.  _She didn't tell him._  I sighed quietly, feeling relieved but still uneasy about blowing my cover. 

"What are you talking about, Isla?"

"Nothing." I shrugged.

He raised an eyebrow, "Something wrong?" I shook my head quickly. Walking over to lean against the kitchen counter.

"I don't believe you," He was watching me carefully, I scoffed playfully. "So? What's going on? Is it Noa?"

"I told him, that's all." I said quickly, wanting to get off the topic of Noa. "So." I shrugged. Poe was still watching me.

"Yeah? How did that go?" He walked over so that he was sitting in the little kitchen nook, looking up at me. I crossed my arms over my chest, did I really have to tell him that Noa kissed me? I could easily just tell him that it went bad and try to leave it at that, but that was way too vague.

"It went-" I stopped, trying to figure out how I should go about this, "There was slight misunderstanding." Poe nodded, waiting for me to go on.

"Yup." I nodded in return, walking over to sit across from him. He laughed, turning to face me.

"What was the misunderstanding?"

"Poe." I laid my head back onto the wall, smiling sheepishly. "Well, we weren't on the same page." 

"You told him....he made you uncomfortable? And you weren't on the same page about it? That doesn't sound right." He raised an eyebrow.

I looked up at him, feeling apprehensive on how he would react. "Well...I thought we were on the same page and I was glad because it would make things less awkward. But we were talking about totally different things." I shrugged again. "He kissed me. Made things even more awkward." I went on. " I didn't even see him at work today, maybe he's embarrassed about the whole thing?" 

Poe stayed silent for what seemed like ever, "He kissed you." It wasn't a question, he was merely just saying the words slowly, trying to take them in.

I nodded, "I think it's safe to say he'll keep his distance now." Well, I was hoping. 

"Did he say that?"

"No." I mumbled. "I left right after, I don't know. Maybe he would have." 

"Sounds like you're making excuses for the guy." Poe grumbled.

"I'm not." I shot back. "He has to get it now. Unless he doesn't have an ounce of common sense." 

"I don't know if I like the way you take care of things if this is the outcome." His frown turning into a smirk, "Should've just let me talk to him." 

I chuckled softly, "Let's just forget all about it and eat our lunch?" 

"I could still have a talk with him-"

"Don't. I think it should be fine now." 

"We'll see." Poe said apprehensively, taking a bite out of his sandwich. I took that as a cue to drop the conversation.


End file.
